Thread: Bush butchery with Nato

Nathan of Big Angry Fish and The lateral line is also a keen bow hunter and butcher by trade.
I have been waiting for his bush butcher vid and here it finally is.
https://youtu.be/UVuKheMwlR4?si=MF6Ja1CVJ6O3Y3ZO

well bugger me he made an easy deer seem hard work - yes he ended up with a nice clean job -but how he got there had me shaking my head - now having hunted for over 50 years and having shot hundreds of deer goats pigs that is the first time I have ever seen anyone skin a deer by hanging it upside down - and it made hard work for him -he knifed most of the skin of - if he had hung the deer up by its hamstrings he would have been able to punch and pull the skin of - he made hard work for himself - his way of opening the guts up wrong way - put the knife between your first two fingers and slide it down easy peasey - if you want to save the skin dont open up like he did by cutting big strips of skin off -one single cut - stand like he did but one single cut straight from leg to leg - it makes me want to do a video and show a better way of doing deer - but he was clean - his boning was okay and he certainly had a sharp knife but his skinning and gutting technique nah

It certainly is different to how I have been shown and have done it but I can see positives in his methodology....did you watch to the end?
If I cut hot meat in the bush I reckon at least 50% of what I carry out ends up dog tucker by the time I cut up ready for cooking (yes Im fussy)

90% of the deer we get we hindquarter and back steak and bring them out like that- we very rarely even gut the deer - usually have a rest feed drink while meat cools - one reason why we just take hindquarters and back steaks is I live in town and getting rid of excess skin and bone becomes problematic - for a good skin the lines of the opening up cuts are critical - its so when the skin is tanned it has a nice shape -do it all uneven and the finished skin will look like it - doing like he did and take big chunks of the skin will look very uneven once done - but hung up by hamstrings - so much easier to skin - little deer like that one could almost pull it off

Neighbour's bins half a block away are good for the discards Barry lol

ha yes so is the bins outside the supermarket and local dairy ( ask me how I know )

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

90% of the deer we get we hindquarter and back steak and bring them out like that- we very rarely even gut the deer - usually have a rest feed drink while meat cools - one reason why we just take hindquarters and back steaks is I live in town and getting rid of excess skin and bone becomes problematic - for a good skin the lines of the opening up cuts are critical - its so when the skin is tanned it has a nice shape -do it all uneven and the finished skin will look like it - doing like he did and take big chunks of the skin will look very uneven once done - but hung up by hamstrings - so much easier to skin - little deer like that one could almost pull it off

My bush butchery if carrying out same day is pretty much hack off hindquarters backsteaks and fillets,hang the quarters in a tree and skin then bone out then lay out to cool then in the pack.....it's always a mess for me at least or maybe I am just to fussy.
If I can hang a deer overnight and it's cool and set everything is so much cleaner for me at least.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

My bush butchery if carrying out same day is pretty much hack off hindquarters backsteaks and fillets,hang the quarters in a tree and skin then bone out then lay out to cool then in the pack.....it's always a mess for me at least or maybe I am just to fussy.
If I can hang a deer overnight and it's cool and set everything is so much cleaner for me at least.

yes if you can hang so much better - I often use my portable meat safe in the garage if I have a whole carcass or multiple hind quarters - I generally dont bone out hindquarters in the bush - just bring them out with skin on - maybe next big red I might bone him out in bush - but the lazy hunting I do now the side by side is normally only close ( lazy luxury ) - on the big goat jobs we had sometimes 4-5 hunters in camp and equal no of dogs - so we took billys for dog tucker - skinned them by tying them to a tree - hooking the landrover onto the skin and slowly drive off - worked well - but for christ sake dont use the cockys fence strainer ( ask me how I KNOW ) goat =landrover =strainer something has to give or at the very lest move sideways

Cutting towards his own legs at the start. A bit risky if you are a long way from help perhaps.

I think what got me was it seemed no one had shown him how to punch a skin of with his knuckles - okay does not work on a big tough red stag or even a old red hind but that tender little bugger it would have been my go to technique- but I dont think I saw him punch any of it -just knifed it all

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

I think what got me was it seemed no one had shown him how to punch a skin of with his knuckles - okay does not work on a big tough red stag or even a old red hind but that tender little bugger it would have been my go to technique- but I dont think I saw him punch any of it -just knifed it all

Watch it again.....didn't knife any of it once opened up

yes I watched again okay he does do some punching to finish skinning he still has it upside down though lol

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

well bugger me he made an easy deer seem hard work - yes he ended up with a nice clean job -but how he got there had me shaking my head - now having hunted for over 50 years and having shot hundreds of deer goats pigs that is the first time I have ever seen anyone skin a deer by hanging it upside down - and it made hard work for him -he knifed most of the skin of - if he had hung the deer up by its hamstrings he would have been able to punch and pull the skin of - he made hard work for himself - his way of opening the guts up wrong way - put the knife between your first two fingers and slide it down easy peasey - if you want to save the skin dont open up like he did by cutting big strips of skin off -one single cut - stand like he did but one single cut straight from leg to leg - it makes me want to do a video and show a better way of doing deer - but he was clean - his boning was okay and he certainly had a sharp knife but his skinning and gutting technique nah

Not sure what you watched Barry but other than the opening cuts he punched and pulled most of it. And did a good explanation of where and why to cut.
If you are going to pull hides off they pull a lot cleaner from the front.
The first thing I noticed was he runs a good knife.

I enjoyed that.i do it differently but the same....over the years we work out what WORKS FOR OURSELVES,we take little bits from what others do and blend it into our own technique.. loved his knife work and many folks could learn a LOT from watching him use steel....watch the angle.

I watched the vid.
After 30 years(fuck I'm old....) of doing house meats n dog tuckers it's...different.
Personally I wouldn't fuck around with half the stuff he's doing.
His knifes sharp...who taught you to drop your steel onto the floor though..??? It's in ya hand or in the sheath.

Taught hang from hind quarters so blood goes out the neck.
I like the explanations. Valid points to do with joints n knife handling.
I've seen so many people hock the legs in the wrong joint, even 'experiencd ' people...

As MD ascertained to we all evolve a style by watching other people do stuff or pointers.
That's NATOs style. It different. It's not my style.
Opening up the gut is a abbatoir style trick